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Scripture Reading: 1 Tim. 3:1-7
First Timothy 3:1-7 says,
Faithful is the word: If anyone aspires to the overseership, he desires a good work. The overseer then must be without reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, of a sober mind, orderly, hospitable, apt to teach; not an excessive drinker; not a striker, but forbearing; not contentious; not fond of money; one who manages well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity (but if one does not know how to manage his own house, how will he care for the church of God?); not a new convert, lest being blinded with pride he fall into the judgment suffered by the devil. And he also must have a good testimony from those outside, that he may not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
The qualifications of the elders are not mentioned in the Bible until the time of Paul’s later ministry. First Timothy was written about A.D. 65. We need to consider why Paul did not write concerning the qualifications of the elders before this time. Acts 14:23 records that in Paul’s first journey he appointed elders in local churches not long after the churches were raised up through his ministry. This record is brief and does not say anything about the qualifications of the elders. It was not until much later that he gave a thorough description of the qualifications of the elders. Peter also wrote concerning the elders later in his ministry (1 Pet. 5:1-4). The writings of Paul and Peter concerning the eldership were certainly based on their experiences and observations over many years. They learned from the situations they saw and passed through. Because of all that they had seen, they realized what the qualifications of the elders should be. Such specific qualifications could be identified only after adequate experience and observation.
We must note that in the writings of both Paul and Peter very little is said concerning the abilities of the elders. First Timothy 3:2 says that an elder must be “apt to teach,” yet the word apt does not indicate ability but habit. Parents may not have much ability in teaching, but they should nevertheless be apt to teach their children at home. The elders similarly must be apt to care for the saints’ learning. According to Paul’s word in 1 Timothy 3:1-7, eldership is not a matter of gift or ability but a matter of life. This does not mean that the elders can be without ability. However, throughout church history and even in our recent past, the problems in the eldership have been not mainly matters of ability or gift but matters of life.
Within a few minutes of the start of a basketball game, it is possible to assess the players’ abilities. Similarly, it is possible to know a person’s spiritual abilities or gifts in a short time. To know a brother’s eloquence, we only have to listen to him speak for a few minutes. However, to know a person in life takes time. In Paul’s later ministry he did not appoint elders immediately after establishing a church but left this matter to his co-workers (Titus 1:5). Perhaps this was because he found that it was unsafe to appoint a brother to be an elder before the necessary time had passed to know him in life.
It takes more than a few months to truly know a person because it takes time for a person’s real condition in life to be exposed. Someone may pretend to be patient, humble, and not ambitious for a few months, but it is difficult to pretend for more than a year. Within a year a person’s condition in life will be exposed through his manner and conduct. It is not safe or proper to decide quickly whether a brother is an elder. We must allow a longer time to see the brother’s real situation in life. According to our experience, to know someone in life requires at least a year of regular contact.
To know a person, we need not only time but also different circumstances and situations. If within a year there has not been a situation that tempts a brother’s ambition, it may remain hidden until such a situation arises. Time alone does not expose people adequately. Time plus environments expose a person. For this reason, we should wait at least a year before we decide whether a brother is an elder. It is better if we can wait even longer.
Companies, schools, hospitals, and other organizations care much for the abilities of their workers, but Paul does not mention anything concerning gifts or ability among the many qualifications of the elders he lists. The problems in the eldership are not related to ability, skill, or gift but are matters of life. What we can do does not mean much; instead, we should consider what we are. Only what we are in life counts for the eldership. To be an elder is not a matter of ability or gift but a matter of life, a matter of what we are.
Paul does not use the word elder in 1 Timothy 3:1-7. Instead, he uses the word overseer, which in Greek is episkopos. This word is sometimes translated “bishop.” However, the word bishop has been misused to describe a hierarchical position. An elder is an overseer (Acts 20:17, 28). Humanly speaking, to be such an overseer requires some ability, but Paul instead emphasizes character, disposition, conduct, and being. In order to be an overseer in the church, a brother must be the right kind of person, not in what he can do but in what he is. This means that a brother must be right in life before he can be a proper overseer in the church.
According to human history and our own experiences, we know that in most situations what we can or cannot do does not mean as much as what we are or are not. The condition of people’s family life is not determined by their ability as much as by their character, disposition, conduct, and being. We should not be concerned about how much we can or cannot do. We should not be proud of our ability, nor should we be disappointed in our inability. We need only to be the right person in disposition, character, conduct, and being.
In 1 Timothy 3:1 Paul writes, “Faithful is the word: If anyone aspires to the overseership, he desires a good work.” To aspire does not mean to be ambitious. A man can aspire to be a good father, but this does not mean that he is ambitious. The church needs many brothers to aspire to the overseership. Not every brother with this aspiration will become an elder, but the church will have a wonderful future.
The elders need to speak to the brothers in their localities to stir up their aspiration to be elders. If an elder is afraid of others’ aspiration, this may indicate that he is trying to hold on to his personal kingdom. If we do not want our own kingdom, we will stir up the aspiration in others to be elders. We will like to see many in the younger generation aspiring to be elders. Such aspiration is very good, but we condemn ambition. To have the ambition to be a great leader is devilish (cf. Isa. 14:12-15).
Paul begins 1 Timothy 3:1 by writing, “Faithful is the word.” This probably indicates that the second part of the verse was a well-known saying among the churches at that time, and Paul was confirming the saying. Ambition and competition should be condemned, but we need to stir up in the saints a holy aspiration for the Lord’s interests and the spreading of the church. Because we desire that the churches would spread and every church needs elders, many young brothers should pray, “Lord, if it is Your will, I would like to be one of the elders to take care of Your testimony in a locality.” This is not ambition. If circumstances never allow a brother to be an elder, he should not be dissatisfied. There should be no ambition or competition but a proper, holy aspiration.
After confirming that the overseership is a good work in verse 1, Paul goes on to give certain requirements of the overseers, which are qualifications of the elders. Verse 2 says, “The overseer then must be without reproach.” To be without reproach does not mean to be perfect or blameless in the eyes of God; rather, it means to be irreproachable in the eyes of man. None of us are perfect or blameless in the eyes of God, but the elders must be without reproach before man. This qualification implies that we must be very careful and considerate in speaking, acting, contacting people, and handling matters so that others will not have cause to reproach us. If we do these things carelessly, we may become reproachable in others’ eyes. What we say and do may be right but still cause others to think poorly of us. Therefore, this qualification implies not blamelessness but carefulness in all that we say and do. This first requirement seems to cover all the following requirements. If a brother is without reproach, he should also meet all the other qualifications as well.
The second qualification is “the husband of one wife” (v. 2). The matter of marriage indicates much about a person. To be the husband of one wife indicates that a brother has self-control. Anyone who has more than one wife cannot or does not bridle his lust. Such a person cannot be an overseer. Lust is very much related to temper. If someone can control his temper, he is more likely to be able to bridle his lust. An overseer must be one who can control himself. If a brother cannot control his temper and his lust, he cannot be an overseer.
The third qualification of an overseer is “temperate” (v. 2). The word temperate denotes “moderate, not going to extremes, balanced, and self-controlled.” In other words, an overseer must be just right — not too quick or too slow, not too high or too low, not laughing excessively or weeping excessively. An overseer has to balance himself. When he hates, he also has to love. If someone often goes to extremes, he cannot be irreproachable. Thus, being without reproach, which is the first qualification, includes being temperate.
The following qualification is “of a sober mind” (v. 2). Temperate and sober are very close in meaning. However, to be sober is mainly a matter of the mind, and to be temperate is a matter of the emotion and will. In order to be temperate, we cannot allow our likes and dislikes to direct our behavior. An elder must be without strong preferences. Our emotion affects our will. A person who likes to talk will decide to talk. If a person does not like to talk, he decides not to talk. Our likes and dislikes affect our decisions. Thus, an elder must be temperate in his emotion and will.
An elder must be of a sober mind. Most people’s minds are not sober. They are often confused, complicated, and sometimes peculiar or strange. To be of a sober mind means to think clearly and have a pure and clear discernment. In reading the Bible some believers do not see the proper light but instead pick up peculiar thoughts. For instance, to practice leg lengthening is to not be soberminded. In 1968 a dear brother with whom I stayed for a short time told me, “Recently, there was news that creatures have come from other planets, and someone in this area has spoken with them.” To heed such rumors is to not be soberminded. Sometimes we are all like this. Rumors spread easily among the saints when they do not have a sober mind to discern what they hear. We especially should not listen to those who speak negatively about the church.
Few Christians today are able to receive light from the Bible because their minds are not sober and are quite complicated. In order to receive light from the Word of God, a mind must be pure, clean, and straight, without any peculiar thinking. In order to be an overseer in a local church, a brother needs such a mind so that he can accurately understand the situation of the church and of individual saints. The overseers’ thinking must be practical, based in reality, pure, clean, and straight, because they are responsible for keeping strange, polluted, and damaging things out of the church. The church will be protected if the overseers have a sober mind to discern and see through such things. Moreover, if a brother is soberminded, he will also be temperate. In order to be without reproach in all that he says and does, an overseer must be temperate and soberminded.
